Why is it FREE?

Asbestos is the largest single cause of occupational ill health, not just in the UK but throughout the world. In the UK alone there are over 4500 asbestos related deaths PER YEAR (and rising), worldwide the estimated death rate runs to over 100,000 PER YEAR (Sources; UK HSE and WHO, the World Health Organisation). One of the keystones to combating the terrible consequences of asbestos exposure is to inform people about asbestos, the health effects and how to help reduce their risk.

Unfortunately, the asbestos training sector has become very commercialised in recent years and too much emphasis is now placed on certification and membership of trade bodies and training associations of one sort or another. While it is of course important that asbestos awareness information is accurate and provided by "competent" people, we feel the trend in commercialisation detracts from the real issues and impedes access to asbestos awareness information and training for many employees, self-employed people and the general public (who may be at risk from asbestos in their homes). Consequently there are still many hundreds of thousands of people who are unknowingly exposed to asbestos but do not receive asbestos awareness information, alerting them to the hazards and how they can help themselves reduce their risk of asbestos exposure and possible adverse health effects.

Despite common belief, there is no legal requirement to have a certificate for asbestos awareness training, but there is a requirement for employees (and the self-employed) to have suitable information, instruction and training. Evidence of such training, such as a course register or a confirmation email from the provider is sufficient.

NATAS pioneered online asbestos awareness training in the UK some 8 years ago and since then we have more than recovered the costs, therefore we are now in a position to offer our awareness course free of charge. Although we are a commercial training provider, we also now have many other asbestos courses and services such as asbestos surveying, material analysis and air testing and we would rather offer our online course free of charge to anyone, anywhere so that more people can have access to such crucial information and help reduce the burden of asbestos related disease.

Who is NATAS?

NATAS was first established in 1996 as the National Asbestos Training & Accreditation Scheme. It was the first 100% dedicated asbestos training provider in the UK and the first independent asbestos training provider to be recognised by HSE. Since then NATAS has trained tens of thousands of people in all aspects of asbestos from awareness through to asbestos removal and maintenance, asbestos surveying, material analysis, air testing and consultancy. NATAS remains the UK's longest established independent asbestos training provider and to this day maintains itself as a highly respected training provider in the UK and worldwide. www.natas.co.uk.